Automated securities trade execution system and method

ABSTRACT

An automated securities order execution system includes order entering means for a client to enter an order and at least one filtering means for determining whether the order can be automatically executed. Routing means are used for routing the order to a destination based upon the determination made by each of the filtering means. After the order has been properly routed, the order is executed and the result of the order execution is reported to the client.

This application is a Continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. §120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/841,388, filed onApr. 24, 2001 and titled “Automated Securities Trade Execution Systemand Method.” The entire contents of the aforementioned application areherein expressly incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for automaticallyexecuting securities trades based upon a series of user-definable rules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Under existing equities trading systems, a trader needs to review everyorder, including small orders, and make a decision as to whether to sendthe order to an exchange or to fill the order from the inventory of thebrokerage. For certain orders, for example where the client has askedfor a limit order, the trader would need to review the order and performan action on it. While this arrangement provides for accurate orderplacement, it lengthens the time between when the order is placed andwhen the order is filled due to the review process undertaken by thetrader.

In an environment where market movements may be large and rapid, shortexecution times are critical in obtaining the best possible price for atrade. Combine the rapidly-moving markets with computer-enabled orderplacement, and customers desire (and often expect) to have their ordersexecuted as soon as possible after being placed. By requiring the traderto manually review each order and make a decision thereon, the executiontime of the order is inherently slow. It is therefore desirable toshorten the time between when an order is placed and when the order isexecuted. The system and method of the present invention are designed toovercome the limitations in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

By using the system and method of the present invention, a trader canset some basic rules for all orders, so that the trader does not need totake any action on an order if it meets the pre-defined criteria. If theorder fails to meet the criteria, then the trader will directly act uponthe order; otherwise, all orders will be automatically processed whichwill shorten execution time. The system is most effective with smallorders which are easily filled. By freeing up some of the trader's time,he or she can concentrate on the larger orders that are more difficultto fill.

An order that is entered into the system of the present invention can behandled in one of three ways: (1) worked by the trader in the samemanner as a typical telephone order; (2) automatically filled from thebrokerage's inventory; or (3) automatically forwarded to a tradingexchange to be filled. An order will be automatically processed only ifcertain pre-defined criteria are met. This is accomplished by passing anorder through a series of filters; if the order passes through all thefilters, then it will be automatically processed. If an order does notmeet all of the filters, it will be passed out of the filter loop to atrader to be manually processed.

An automated securities order execution system according to the presentinvention includes order entering means for a client to enter an orderand at least one filtering means for determining whether the order canbe automatically executed. After the filtering means have been applied,routing means will route the order to a destination based upon thedetermination made by the filtering means. Next, executing means willcarry out execution of the order and reporting means will report theresult of the order execution to the client.

A method for automatically executing a securities trade according to thepresent invention includes the steps of first creating at least onefilter and then entering an order for a security by a client. Next, eachfilter is applied to the order to determine whether the order can beautomatically executed. The order is then routed to a destination basedupon whether the order can be automatically executed. The order will beexecuted and the results of the trade are reported to the client.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the following detailed description of an exemplary embodimentconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical overview of the system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a rule definition screen used in connection with the systemshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rule summary screen used in connection with the system shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an alert definition screen used in connection with the systemshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an alert summary screen used in connection with the systemshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a broker alert definition screen used in connection with thesystem shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a broker alert summary screen used in connection with thesystem shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic overview of an automated trade executionsystem 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. A client12 places an order 14 via an order management system 16. The order 14enters a brokerage's internal systems 18 via a firewall 20. The firewall20 provides the usual types of protection expected when using afirewall, such as protection of the brokerage's internal systems 18 andclient validation, to ensure that only authorized clients 12 can accessthe brokerage's internal systems 18. To protect the client 12 and thesecurity of an order 14, an order is encrypted by the order managementsystem 16 before being sent through the firewall 20.

The order management system 16 can be of any type desired by the client12, provided that the order management system 16 can communicate withthe brokerage's internal systems 18. The order management system 16 canoperate on an unillustrated communications device such as a conventionalpersonal computer or a wireless access device such as a personal digitalassistant, and over a suitable communications network to access thebrokerage's internal systems 18. By way of illustration but notlimitation, when communicating with a particular brokerage, the ordermanagement system 16 may need to be capable of sending a FIX protocolmessage to the brokerage's internal systems 18. FIX or FinancialInformation Exchange protocol is a messaging standard developedspecifically for the real-time electronic exchange of securitiestransactions and is a public-domain specification owned and maintainedby FIX Protocol, Ltd. It will be understood that different messageprotocols may be required to enable communication between the ordermanagement system 16 and other brokerages.

In a fully automated embodiment, the trade execution system 10 ispreferably configured with appropriate proprietary or commerciallyavailable software suitable to enable direct interaction with a client12. Preferably, the system 10 is highly scalable, whereby any number ofclients may be readily connected to and simultaneously submit orders tothe system. Further, the system architecture may be portable and capableof being run on a variety of software platforms such as Windows®, UNIX®,etc.

The system 10 may comprise a flexible and adaptable client-serverarchitecture that employs any suitable object-oriented programminglanguage such as, for example, Java® or C++. The system 10 may alsooperate on any electronic communication network capable of enablinginteractive participation by users of the system. Examples ofcommunication networks that may support the system 10 include theInternet, a proprietary network, a local or wide area network, awireless network, a telephone network, etc. By way of illustration butnot limitation, the system 10 may be a World Wide Web (Web) based systemfunctioning on the Internet.

The system 10 further includes a communication network servicesintegrator appropriate for the communication network within which thesystem is implemented. For example, in a Web based environment, asuitable communication network services integrator may be the userinterface, program logic, data server, and Web server applicationsmarketed by Oracle Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif.

The order 14 first passes through a series of broker filters 22, whichevaluate items such as a credit check on the client 12 to determinewhether the order 14 can be covered, whether the order 14 is for arestricted security, or whether the order 14 has exceeded any limitsplaced on the client's account. The types of checks applied by thebroker filters 22 can include any check to validate whether an order 14can be processed. If the order 14 does not clear all of the brokerfilters 22, an exception 24 is generated which is passed, along with theorder 14, to a broker 26. The broker 26 will then contact the client 12regarding the exceptions 24 to attempt to resolve the problem. Once theorder 14 has been rejected, the client 12 may resubmit the order 14 byre-entering it in the same way as the original order. However, if theorder 14 has been rejected on, for example, credit grounds, then it isunlikely to succeed until the credit limit has been altered (e.g.,raised) or otherwise addressed.

The broker filters 22 are pre-defined by the rules of the brokerage andcannot be modified by the client 12. Other types of broker filters 22can include whether the order 14 is a standard market order or a limitorder, whether the execution instructions on the order 14 are “held”(meaning that the trader has no discretion in filling the order) or “notheld” (meaning that the trader can exercise discretion in filling theorder; this is the default setting when used), whether the order 14 isfor regular settlement in the normal trading currency, and whether thereare any special instructions associated with the order 14.

If the order 14 clears all of the broker filters 22, it is passed to aseries of trader filters 30 which will determine whether the order 14 isautomatically processed, whether a trader 32 will need to manually fillthe order 14, or whether the trader 32 will need to manually send theorder 14 to an exchange. The trader filters 30 include the types ofchecks a trader 32 would use in evaluating an order 14 and deciding thebest method of filling the order 14. For example, the trader filters 30can include items such as volume of the order 14 in terms of the numberof shares involved, the value of the order 14, any limit price on theorder 14, and the current price spread of the product. The traderfilters 30 will be discussed in greater detail below in connection withFIG. 2.

If an order 14 does not clear any one of the trader filters 30, it willbe passed to a trader 32 to be manually processed. The trader filters 30may be individually active or inactive, but an order 14 must passthrough all of the active trader filters 30 to be automaticallyprocessed. The number of orders 14 that will be manually handled by thetrader 32 is dependent upon the number of trader filters 30 that areset, the criteria of each of the trader filters 30, and the types oforders that the trader 32 normally receives. Each trader 32 has theability to set the criteria for his or her own trader filters 30, aswill be discussed below in connection with FIG. 2. Ideally, the traderfilters 30 will accept smaller orders 14 (in terms of both volume andvalue) and will only pass larger or unusual orders 14 to the trader 32for manual processing.

If an order 14 meets the requirements of all of the trader filters 30,it will be passed to a set of compliance filters 40. The compliancefilters 40 are used to determine if the order 14 can be filled basedupon the governing market rules. For example, a determination is madewhether the order 14 is of a minimum volume (i.e., no odd-lot trades),whether the price of the order 14 is within a specified percentage ofthe market price, or whether the security is presently suspended fromtrading. Additional compliance filters 40 can be added when necessary tomeet specific compliance concerns. The compliance filters 40 aredictated by the local market rules, and cannot be modified by either thebrokers 26 or the traders 32.

If the order 14 fails any of the compliance filters 40, an exception 42will be generated, and the order 14 along with the exception 42 will bepassed to the trader 32 for manual processing. A human complianceofficer 44 can view the compliance filters 40 in operation, to determinewhat number of orders 14 meet or fail the criteria set. If the order 14passes all of the compliance filters 40, and depending on the actionstatus of the relevant rule, it will be forwarded to be automaticallyfilled from inventory 50 of the brokerage or directed to an appropriatetrading exchange 52. At present, it is believed that only humancompliance officers are able to monitor the compliance filters 40.However, at such time that automated/electronic transaction compliancetechnology is developed that partially or completely performs thefunctions of a human compliance officer, it will be understood that suchtechnology may be used in the automated trade execution system 10 of thepresent invention.

To be able to properly track an order 14 as it moves through thebrokerage's internal systems 18, certain identifying information isattached to the data record that includes the order 14, such as clientand account identifiers and tags. A tag is used to uniquely identifyevery trade or execution that is processed by the system 10. With thisadditional information, an audit trail for the order 14 can beconstructed so that the progress of the order 14 through the variousfilters 22, 30, 40 can be monitored. The compliance officer 44 can viewthe audit trail at any time, to monitor order flow and to ensure that anorder 14 is being properly handled. Presently, the compliance officer 44can call a member of the relevant team for a detailed description of anidentified problem, although a brief description can be obtained fromthe order history and the associated tags. The background process isalso responsible for accepting orders via FIX, handing off the orders tothe automated trade execution system 10, and if necessary, routingorders to the applicable exchange or filling the orders from inventory.

After an order 14 is processed either from inventory 50 or through anexchange 52, a status record 60 is generated. The status record 60 ispassed backwards through the brokerage's internal systems 18 until thestatus record 60 is passed through the firewall 20 where it can beretrieved by the order management system 16. This way, the client 12 hasa complete record of the history of the order 14 and whether the order14 was successfully filled.

FIG. 2 is a rule definition screen 200 that is used by a trader 32 todefine the trader filters 30. (The terms “filter” and “rule” are usedinterchangeably herein.) A rule 202 is the collection of informationthat is used to check against an order. A Product 204 is the securitythat the rule 202 is to be defined for on a particular Market 206. APriority 208 is assigned to the rule 202 which determines the order inwhich the rule 202 is applied to the Product 204. If there are multiplerules 202 defined for a Product 204, each rule 202 will have a differentPriority 208 and will be tested against the order by ascending priorityvalue.

The checkboxes 210, 212, 214, 216 can be used to determine whether thesystem 10 should test an order 14 against an Individual Client 210 or aClient Group 212 and/or against a Booking Representative 214 or aBooking Representative Group 216. The grouping of the checkboxes is suchthat either both the Individual Client 210 and the Client Group 212 areunchecked or only one of them is checked. The same grouping principleapplies to the Booking Representative 214 and the Booking RepresentativeGroup 216. When the desired Client and/or Booking Representativeselection(s) have been made in checkboxes 210, 212, 214, 216,appropriate dropdown lists appear which are populated with the relevantoptions for the selected checkbox(es) from which the user chooses thedesired Individual Client 210 or Client Group 212 and/or BookingRepresentative 214 or Booking Representative Group 216.

The value for Side 220 allows the trader to determine what type oftransactions will be filtered by the rule 202. The Side 220 may be “buy”for buy orders, “sell” for sell orders, or “all” for both buy and sellorders. The Volume 222 is based on the number of shares for a singleorder. At 224, the value of the order to be filtered can be expressed inUnited States dollars or, at 226, the local currency. Limit 228 is thelimit price on a limit order that can pass the rule 202. A limit orderis an order to a broker to buy a specified quantity of a security at orbelow a specified price, or to sell it at or above a specified price.The Spread Ticks value 230 is used to determine whether the order priceis within the specified value of the current market price for theProduct 204. The value specified for Spread Ticks is the differencebetween the bid and the offer. The spread is the current market spread,so that specifying a rule with a spread less than or equal to five (forexample), would mean that the order would only be automatically tradedif the current bid-offer spread was less than five ticks. The trader maywant to limit orders to be automatically processed only when thevolatility of the stock is low, i.e., with a small spread. The valuesfor Volume 222, Value 224, Value 226, Limit 228, and Spread Ticks 230may be defined to be either less than, less than/equal to, greater than,or greater than/equal to (via the drop-down list) the numeric valueentered into the field.

The selections for Action 232 determine where an order is sent after itsuccessfully passes the applicable rule 202. The possible values forAction 232 include: “Send To Exchange,” where the order will be sentdirectly to the exchange where the Product 204 is traded; “Fill FromInventory,” where the order will be filled from the inventory of thebrokerage; and “Send Round Lot, Fill Odd Lot,” which is used onexchanges that prohibit orders having a volume that is not equal to amultiple of a given lot size, where the round lot portion will be sentto the exchange and the odd lot portion will be filled from theinventory of the brokerage. The value for Send To 234 directs where theorder should be sent if it passes all of the specified criteria. If theAction 232 is “Send To Exchange,” then Send To 234 will be a code forthe exchange. Send To 234 is not specified for the action “Fill FromInventory”. The Firm Account 236 is used when the Action 232 is “Send ToExchange” to properly track the order and credit or debit theappropriate account. The firm account is a tool that enables the companyto track its position. Quantities of (positions in) related stocks areusually tracked in the same account.

The From time 238 and the To time 240 are used to set the boundaries forwhen the rule is operational. Since the system 10 is designed to processorders automatically, it is necessary for the Market 206 where theProduct 204 is traded to be open for business. The Is Active checkbox242 is used to place a rule 202 into and out of an active state. Thecheckbox 242 can be used to disable a particular rule 202 without havingto delete it from the system.

When defining the criteria that comprise a rule 202, a trader can selectany combination of criteria; it is not necessary to define values forall of the criteria. For an order to successfully pass a given rule 202,all of the specified criteria need to be satisfied. If the order doesnot pass one of the criteria of the rule 202, the order fails the rule202 and will then be passed to a trader 32 for manual processing. Afterthe criteria for the rule 202 have been defined, the user can save ordelete the rule 202 by clicking on the appropriate button 250, 252.

Additional filters can be added and can include any quantifiablecriteria that a trader would normally evaluate in determining how toprocess an order. Furthermore, a trader may set limits for the totalvolume or total value of orders that may be executed against thebrokerage's inventory or directed to an exchange.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a rule summary screen 300 contains a compactlisting of all of the rules 202 that have been defined in the system 10.A rule summary 302 includes the market 304 for which the rule 202applies and the criteria 306 for each product 308. An individual rule202 may enabled (e.g., made active or inactive) by toggling the checkbox310. A user can view the details of a rule 202 by clicking on theDetails link 312, which will lead the user to a screen like that shownin FIG. 2. A default trader dropdown list (Trader list) 320 identifiesthose persons with permissions to execute (i.e., trade) on therespective exchanges. Persons on Trader list 320 can view and edit rules202. The dropdown list contains all valid traders for the relevantmarket. A selected trader on Trader list 320 is a person to whom certainorders that do not meet the criteria 306 of a rule 202 will be sent. Arejected order will be sent to all relevant traders for that market, notjust the trader selected in the Trader list 320. Persons on Trader list320 each have a unique trader identifier that is associated with anorder that is sent to an exchange. In effect, the automated process ofthe present invention thus works “on behalf” of the trader. By clickingon the Update button 322, the user saves a changed value of a traderspecified in Trader list 320.

FIG. 4 shows an alert definition screen 400 that permits a user todefine when an alert 402 is generated. An alert 402 will notify a traderwhen a certain condition occurs, as will be explained below. An alert402 can be defined for a specific Product 404 traded on a Market 406 andby the type of Action 408 to be performed as defined by the rule forthat Product 404. Additionally, an alert be created for all products ina market. The Type 410 can include United States dollar value, localcurrency value, or volume of the order. The Value 412 is a check againstwhich it will be determined whether to trigger an alert. The Alert Level414 is a percentage value which is used to determine when an alert 402will be generated, which is when the value in the order specified by theselection of the Type 410 is greater than the Value 412 multiplied bythe Alert Level 414.

The Alert Only checkbox 416 is used to determine what type of alert willbe sent to the trader. If the box 416 is checked, only an alert will besent to the trader. If the box 416 is not checked, the system 10 willstop processing the rule that allowed the order that violated thethreshold to be automatically traded (i.e., the offending rule will bemade inactive). The Is Active checkbox 418 permits the user toselectively activate the alert 402 without having to delete it from thesystem 10. Once the user has defined the alert 402, the user can eithersave or delete the alert 402 by clicking the appropriate buttons 420,422.

FIG. 5 shows an alert summary screen 500 that displays an alert summary502 for each alert 402 that has been created by the user. The alertsummary 502 is grouped by market 504 and lists the criteria 506 thathave been defined for either a particular product 508 or an entiremarket 504. An Enabled checkbox 510 permits the user to active ordeactivate an alert 402 without having to delete the alert 402 from thesystem 10. The user can also view the details of the alert 402 byclicking on the Details link 512. The Enabled checkboxes 510 associatedwith each alert summary 502 allow the user to configure a variety ofalerts 402. The user can enable all of the alerts 402 by clicking theSelect All button 520 or deactivate all of the alerts 402 by clicking onthe Clear Selection button 522. Once the user has enabled their desiredselection of alerts 402, clicking on the Activate Current Selectionbutton 524 will activate all of the alerts 402 that have been enabled.

FIG. 6 shows a broker alert definition screen 600 that permits a user todefine when a broker alert 602 is generated. A broker alert 602 willnotify a trader when the thresholds for a given broker have been met orexceeded. This allows the trader to be alerted when a certain amount ofbusiness has been done through a given broker. An alert 602 is definedfor a specific broker (Send To) 604. The Type 606 can include UnitedStates dollar value, local currency value, or volume of the order. TheValue 606 is the numerical value that will be tested in order togenerate the alert 602. The Alert Level 610 is a percentage value usedto determine when the threshold has been exceeded. An alert 602 will begenerated when the total value of all the orders generated by the broker604 specified by the selection of the Type 606 is greater than the Value608 multiplied by the Alert Level 610.

The Is Active checkbox 612 permits the user to selectively activate thealert 602 without having to delete it from the system 10. Once the userhas defined the alert 602, the user can either save or delete the alert602 by clicking the appropriate buttons 620, 622.

FIG. 7 shows a broker alert summary screen 700 that displays an alertsummary 702 for each alert 602 that has been created by the user. Thealert summary 702 is grouped by broker 704 and lists the criteria 706that have been defined for the broker 704 and the Type of alert 708desired. An Enabled checkbox 710 permits the user to active ordeactivate a broker alert 602 without having to delete the alert 602from the system 10. The user can also view the details of the alert 602by clicking on the Details link 712. The Enabled checkboxes 710associated with each alert summary 702 allow the user to configure avariety of alerts 602. The user can enable all of the broker alerts 602by clicking the Select All button 720 or deactivate all of the alerts602 by clicking on the Clear Selection button 722. Once the user hasenabled their desired selection of broker alerts 602, clicking on theActivate Current Selection button 724 will activate all of the alerts602 that have been enabled.

It will be understood that the embodiment described herein is merelyexemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make many variationsand modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. For instance, the filters exemplified herein can beexpanded to include any type of filter that would accomplish the goal tobe achieved by that stage of the processing. Moreover, the user screensshown in FIGS. 2-7 are illustrative of a preferred embodiment forconstructing the filters and communicating this information to a user ofthe system 10. A person skilled in the art would be readily able tocreate many other types of user screens that would collect and displaythe necessary information contained therein. In addition, the criteriadefined for a filter can be any quantifiable criteria that wouldnormally be evaluated by a trader when processing an order. All suchvariations and modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A system for automating securities order execution, comprising: amemory: a processor disposed in communication with the memory andconfigured to issue processing instructions stored in the memory to:receive order information from a client; apply at least one filteringrule to determine whether the order can be automatically executed orwhether to the order needs to be manually processed by a trader within abrokerage; determine, based on the application of the at least onefiltering rule, an order destination; route the order to the orderdestination; execute the order when the order is determined to beautomatically executable; and report the result of the order executionto the client.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least onefiltering rule includes at least one broker filter configured todetermine if the identified client meets requirements to make therequested trade.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein the order is passed tothe trader within the brokerage when the identified client does notclear any of the at least one broker filters.
 4. The system of claim 1wherein the at least one filtering rule includes at least one traderfilter.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the order is passed to thetrader within the brokerage when the order does not clear any of the atleast one trade filters.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the at leastone filtering rule includes at least one compliance filter configured todetermine if the order follows governing market rules.
 7. The system ofclaim 6 wherein the order is passed to the trader within the brokeragewhen the order does not clear any of the at least one compliancefilters.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the order information istagged with a client identifier.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theat least one filtering rule includes at least one broker filter, atleast one trade filter and at least one compliance filter.
 10. Aprocessor-implemented method for automating securities order execution,comprising: receiving, via a processor, order information from a client;applying at least one filtering rule to determine whether the order canbe automatically executed or whether to the order needs to be manuallyprocessed by a trader within a brokerage; determining, based on theapplication of the at least one filtering rule, an order destination;routing the order to the order destination; executing the order when theorder is determined to be automatically executable; and reporting theresult of the order execution to the client.
 11. The method of claim 10wherein the at least one filtering rule includes at least one brokerfilter configured to determine if the identified client meetsrequirements to make the requested trade.
 12. The method of claim 11wherein the order is passed to the trader within the brokerage when theidentified client does not clear any of the at least one broker filters.13. The method of claim 10 wherein the at least one filtering ruleincludes at least one trader filter.
 14. The method of claim 13 whereinthe order is passed to the trader within the brokerage when the orderdoes not clear any of the at least one trade filters.
 15. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the at least one filtering rule includes at least onecompliance filter configured to determine if the order follows governingmarket rules.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the order is passed tothe trader within the brokerage when the order does not clear any of theat least one compliance filters.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein theorder information is tagged with a client identifier.
 18. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the at least one filtering rule includes at least onebroker filter, at least one trade filter and at least one compliancefilter.
 19. A processor-accessible non-transitory medium storingprocessor-issuable instructions to: receive order information from aclient; apply at least one filtering rule to determine whether the ordercan be automatically executed or whether to the order needs to bemanually processed by a trader within a brokerage; determine, based onthe application of the at least one filtering rule, an orderdestination; route the order to the order destination; execute the orderwhen the order is determined to be automatically executable; and; reportthe result of the order execution to the client.